Salt Lake City -- After coming off one of their worst defensive performances of the season, New Orleans Pelicans coach Monty Williams pushed for his players to give a better effort on Friday night against the Utah Jazz.

Yet, he watched some of the same defensive breakdowns that led to Wednesday night’s embarrassing 30-point loss to the Denver Nuggets.

This time, the Jazz shot 51 percent from the field, scored 48 points in the lane and held off a late surge to hand the Pelicans a 100-96 loss at the EnergySolutions Arena.

With six games remaining in the regular season, the Pelicans have lost four straight and it was their 12th loss in 15 games on the road. Now they head to play the Portland Trail Blazers, who have the fifth-best record in the Western Conference at 49-28, on Sunday night.

''We had a number of breakdowns,'' Williams said. ''We gave up a layup on the end-of- quarter play in the third quarter and then we come out and fouled a jump shooter and they extend their lead to five points.

''To make excuses about what we don’t have, I’m not into that. We had a number of guys out there who competed and had a chance to take the lead and put some pressure on them and we just couldn’t do it.''

The Pelicans (32-44) had a chance to tie the score with eight seconds remaining, but small forward Darius Miller missed a 3-pointer from the right corner on a designed play.

Pelicans guard Brian Roberts then made a desperation 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining to cut the lead to two, but Jazz guard Gordon Hayward made two free throws to put the game out of reach.Hayward and backup guard Alec Burks each scored 21 points to lead Utah.

The Jazz came in as the second-lowest scoring team in the NBA, averaging just 94.3 points. Prior to playing the Pelicans, Utah had been held to 96 or fewer points in eight straight games in which they had lost seven of eight. At 24-52, Utah has the worst record in the Western Conference.

''We fought hard and tried to lock it in defensively, but we just gave up too many points,'' Pelicans guard Anthony Morrow, who scored a game-high 26 points. ''They hit a lot of tough shots that they didn't make when we last played them.''

Pelicans forward Anthony Davis returned to the lineup after undergoing treatment for back spasms. But he sat out the entire third quarter before returning for the fourth after having another flare up of back spasms. Davis, who came in averaging a team-high 21.1 points and 10.2 rebounds, was held to eight points and six rebounds in 23 minutes.

''I tried to play through it (back spasms) to help the team and try to get the win,'' Davis said. ''We have to play better defense, play better as a team and just make sure that we stay focused.''

The Pelicans opened their three-game road trip on Wednesday with 137-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets. It was the most points the Pelicans had allowed in a game since January 2000 when the then-named Charlotte Hornets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 137-87.

In a push to give a better effort against the Jazz, Williams put his team through an extended shootaround on Friday morning, emphasizing improved defensive play. Despite the extra work, the Pelicans were undone in the third quarter when the Jazz scored 30 points gave on 12-of-17 shooting.

Utah forward Derrick Favors dominated the quarter much the same way Denver's Kenneth Favors did on Wednesday when he scored a career-high 34 points against the Pelicans.

Favors made 6-of-7 shots in the third to score 14 of his 20 points. Nearly all of Favors' shots in the quarter came within five feet of the basket. On a push, the Jazz extended its lead to 10.

The tone was set early in the quarter when forward Richard Jefferson raced past Pelicans shooting guard Tyreke Evans without any Pelicans defender coming in time to contest.

Throughout the game, the Pelicans were too late on their rotations when the Jazz penetrated the lane. Favors outmuscled Pelicans centers Greg Stiemsma and Alexis Ajinca to get up most of his shots.

When the Pelicans made a push to cut the Jazz lead to five with 4:31 remaining, they allowed Alec Burks to make a driving spin-around shot in the lane.

Shuffling his lineup, Williams started Miller at small forward, ahead of Al-Farouq Aminu. Miller finished with six points, making only 2-of-8 shots.

Without hesitation, the Jazz came out and started attacking the Pelicans horrendous interior defense.

Utah’s first 10 points of the game were scored in the lane. Jazz easily drove through the lane from the baseline without getting much resistance from the Pelicans. After trailing 25-23 at the end of the first quarter, the Pelicans started to defend better. They held the Jazz to 18 points in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 45-43 halftime lead.

Pelicans didn’t get much from Evans in the first half. He missed his first four shots and committed five of the Pelicans’ eight turnovers. Evans didn’t make his first shot from the field until 5:14 remained in the second quarter before he finished the game with eight points.

''I thought we were better defensively tonight,'' Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. ''We talked about being able to finish games. Its been a long year for these guys, but we still have the energy to have a chance to compete.''